Compare criteria for schooling. There is an organization that is especially geared for helping people get their education from home called Home School Legal Defense Association. Their information includes stat- specific requirements and also links to other home education resources. Go to www.hslda.org to find out more (see Resources section below for the link). The website contains excellent information for obtaining a diploma without attending school.
Choose your classes. When picking your courses, keep in mind the career objective that you have already decided upon. Besides core academic courses like Math, English, History and Science, you may also want to add some elective courses to supplement your curriculum. Elective courses such as Computer Skills, SAT Prep and Home Economics can be geared towards your chosen career field or just for enjoyment.
Do your homework. All of the courses will contain text material for you to study and worksheets to complete. Some correspondence schools will ask you to return finished work to them for grading. Make sure that you turn them in on time so that you will not get behind in your course work. Save all graded papers and assignments in a folder for verification of completion.
Send in your final exams. At the end of the specific courses there will be final exams on the subject that you are studying. There are additional achievement tests that you can choose for college aptitude and preparation such as the SAT, which stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test and the American College Test or ACT. It will make entrance into college much easier for home educated students if these tests are completed (in fact, most colleges require it). You can even take these tests online.
Keep accurate academic records for courses completed. You will need to have complete records for creating a transcript when applying for colleges. The transcript should include your name, classes completed, amount of credits earned and your grade point average.